The Heart of Healthcare | A Digital Health Podcast

Episódios

• 📣 Digital Health Download: June 2026 01.06.2026 42min

  Healthcare is simultaneously propping up the US economy and facing one of its most uncertain moments in years. This month, Halle and Steve unpack the growing contradictions shaping digital health right now: healthcare jobs are driving nearly half of US job growth while provider bankruptcies surge, AI is flooding into healthcare faster than regulators can keep up, and Washington continues to send mixed signals on the future of healthcare policy and innovation. We cover:Why healthcare jobs are now carrying the US labor market and what Medicaid cuts could mean for the economyThe surprising comeback of wearables and how companies like Whoop, Oura, and Google are building massive subscription businessesCMS’s new ACCESS model and the debate over whether AI-driven care can actually lower costs without sacrificing qualityThe lawsuit against Character.AI and what it reveals about the growing demand for AI mental health toolsWhy investors are pouring billions into AI drug discovery despite huge unanswered questions about clinical developmentMarty Makary’s resignation from the FDA and what ongoing instability means for biotech, pharma, and healthcare innovation— Show notes:Forget Tech and Hollywood. California Is Powered by Healthcare Jobs. (WSJ)Oura Debuts Ring 5, Ahead of Potential IPO (WWD)Whoop Raises $575 Million at $10.1 Billion Valuation (Whoop)Fitbit Ditches the Screen With Its New $99 Whoop Rival (PC Mag)Why big digital health players are missing from Medicare’s chronic care experiment (STAT)Character.AI Lawsuit (PA.gov) Marty Makary out as FDA chief (Axios)—  🙏 Do you like this podcast? An easy and free way to help keep the show going is to leave us a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you're listening. —  📍 Connect with us: Heart of Healthcare website LinkedIn YouTube  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
• Investing in “Whole Person Care” | Lance Armstrong 25.05.2026 34min

  Most careers don’t follow a straight line. But few require starting over in full view of the public. This week, Halle sits down with Lance Armstrong to discuss how he rebuilt his life and career after multiple turning points, including surviving advanced cancer, and how those experiences shaped his perspective on health, performance, and reinvention. Now, through his venture firm Next Ventures, he backs companies focused on what they call “whole person health” — spanning prevention, wellness, diagnostics, longevity, and healthcare outside the traditional system. We cover:Why he chose to become a VC, and what he likes (and dislikes) about the jobHow his experience as a patient shapes how he evaluates companiesWhy preventive care is growing outside the traditional healthcare systemWhat he looks for in founders building across the care continuumWhat it takes to rebuild trust and start over About our guest: Lance Armstrong is a former professional cyclist, entrepreneur, and investor. After surviving advanced testicular cancer, he founded Livestrong, helping raise more than $500 million to support cancer patients and survivors worldwide. In 2019, he co-founded Next Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on health, wellness, and consumer brands, with investments including Oura, Cofertility, Pair Team, and SteadyMD. Prior to Next Ventures, he was an active angel investor in companies such as Uber, DocuSign, and Athletic Brewing. —  🙏 Do you like this podcast? An easy and free way to help keep the show going is to leave us a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you're listening. —  📍 Connect with us: Heart of Healthcare website LinkedIn YouTube  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
• How AI Will Finally Make Healthcare Deflationary | Eric Larsen 18.05.2026 59min

  AI in healthcare may be entering a new chapter, one where the biggest question is no longer whether the technology works, but who is willing to deploy it, measure it, and take responsibility for the risk. This week, Steve sits down again with Eric Larsen to revisit his predictions from last year’s Webby-winning episode on generative AI in healthcare. Eric argues that the first wave of AI has been inflationary, reinforcing the old payer-provider payment model, but that the next wave could be deflationary as automation moves into revenue cycle, administrative work, clinical reasoning, and drug development. They discuss why incumbents still have a narrow window to co-develop the future, why clinical AI may move faster outside the US, and why liability may become the deciding factor in who wins. We cover:Why healthcare is still the sector most exposed to AI-driven changeHow AI has reinforced fee-for-service dynamics so far, and why that may soon reverseWhat makes some healthcare work more automatable than othersWhy liability may determine how fast clinical AI gets adoptedWhich health systems, payers, and life sciences companies are moving fastestWhat will change across providers, payers, and pharma over the next year—  👉Submit your questions! We’re doing a followup episode with Eric. Submit your listener questions here: https://forms.gle/Bu335DkpHAUvygiBA —  About our guest: Eric Jon Larsen is President of TowerBrook Advisors and a member of the healthcare leadership team at TowerBrook Capital Partners, a $30 billion AUM investment firm based in New York and London. TowerBrook invests across private equity, structured minority, and growth opportunities, with a strong focus on healthcare, partnering with health systems, payers, and other strategics. Notably, TowerBrook is the first mainstream private equity firm to achieve B Corp certification, reflecting its commitment to responsible business practices. Eric is a nationally recognized healthcare strategist with a global advisory portfolio spanning CEOs and boards of leading healthcare organizations. He spent 25 years at The Advisory Board Company—five of those as President—advancing best practices in healthcare delivery worldwide. Following the firm's 2017 acquisition by Optum (UnitedHealth Group), Eric co-led strategic partnerships and market development efforts at UnitedHealth. He is also a Venture Partner at Thrive Capital and SignalFire, and serves on several digital health boards, including Somatus and Contessa Health. —  🙏 Do you like this podcast? An easy and free way to help keep the show going is to leave us a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you're listening. —  📍 Connect with us: Heart of Healthcare website LinkedIn YouTube  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
• What It Takes To Scale Care With AI | Akido Labs CEO Prashant Samant 11.05.2026 39min

  Medicaid reimbursements are shrinking, providers are pulling back, and vulnerable populations are losing access to care. Akido Labs is betting that AI can expand care capacity fast enough to reverse that trend. This week, Halle sits down with Prashant Samant, co-founder and CEO of Akido Labs, to discuss what it actually takes to scale care with AI. They explore why Akido built a full-stack healthcare company, how its AI operates inside real clinical workflows, and why the hardest patients are the best place to test whether this model works. We cover:Why he chose to build a full-stack care modelHow AI changes who can deliver care, and whereWhy most healthcare AI tools fail once they hit real clinical workflowsWhy the doctor shortage cannot be solved by training more doctorsHow the bottleneck in healthcare AI is absorption, not innovation About our guest: Prashant S. Samant is CEO and co-founder of Akido, a healthcare technology company that builds clinical AI and operates a multi-state medical network serving hundreds of thousands of patients. He co-founded Akido in 2015 through USC’s Digital Health Lab. In 2023, he and his co-founders received the EY Entrepreneur of the Year–Greater Los Angeles Award. Samant is also a co-founder and board member of Grid110, a nonprofit accelerator supporting early-stage entrepreneurs. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Washington University in St. Louis. —  Show Notes:Akido’s recently-published white paper on street medicine—  🙏 Do you like this podcast? An easy and free way to help keep the show going is to leave us a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you're listening. —  📍 Connect with us: Heart of Healthcare website LinkedIn YouTube  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
• 📣 Digital Health Download: May 2026 04.05.2026 38min

  AI is everywhere in healthcare, and May's big question is whether it's actually delivering. The money is flowing, the promises are bold, but some cracks are starting to show. Steve and Michael break down the month's biggest stories. We cover:Digital health hitting its strongest funding quarter since the pandemic peak, and why deal concentration tells the real storyHow Medvi built a billion-dollar GLP-1 company on fake doctor profiles, fake reviews, and a drug with zero bioavailabilityWhy AI in prior authorization and billing may be inflating healthcare costs rather than cutting themThe peptide craze: what the science says, what regulators have banned, and why Michael is actually taking oneHow AI could collapse today's narrow medical specialties into a "generalist specialist" modelNew research showing Epic's out-of-the-box AI models fall short on real-world clinical benchmarks— Show notes: Rock Health Q1 2026 Funding Report NYT Profile of Medvi + Futurism Investigation Peterson Health Technology Institute: Administrative AI Report STAT News / Undark: BPC-157 and the Peptide Craze Health Affairs Scholar: Kocher & Wachter on the Generalist-Specialist Model Springer Nature / Journal of General Internal Medicine: Epic AI Model Meta-Analysis —  🙏 Do you like this podcast? An easy and free way to help keep the show going is to leave us a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you're listening. —  📍 Connect with us: Heart of Healthcare website LinkedIn YouTube  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
• Is ChatGPT Now the World's Largest Health App? | OpenAI VP of Health Nate Gross, MD 27.04.2026 46min

  Forty million people use ChatGPT for health-related questions every day, making it one of the most widely used tools for health information in the world. So what is their team doing to maximize impact and minimize harm? For one, they've brought in hundreds of physicians globally to continuously review outputs and shape how the models respond across different scenarios, literacy levels, and edge cases. Second, they've hired my Rock Health co-founder, Nate Gross, MD, as their VP of Health. In this full-circle episode, I sit down with Nate, who also co-founded Doximity (DOCS) and knows a thing or two about building in digital health. We discuss the astonishing speed of AI progress, how models are trained for safety and accuracy, and what this technological evolution means for every part of the healthcare system. Key topics:How ChatGPT is becoming a 24/7 front door for health questions, and whether it is replacing Dr. Google or starting to compete with the healthcare system itselfHow OpenAI is trying to reduce hallucinations, avoid sycophantic behavior, and build guardrails for sensitive use cases like mental healthOpenAI’s goals to “raise the floor, sweep the floor, and raise the ceiling” with new product launches like ChatGPT for Clinicians and GPT-RosalindHow Nate thinks about the AI race and what winning in healthcare actually requiresWhere startups should focus their efforts now that specialized products are launching for clinicians and life sciencesThe single hardest problem in healthcare that AI, according to Nate, probably won't fix anytime soon—  About our guest: Dr. Nate Gross is the VP of Health at OpenAI. He previously co-founded Doximity and Rock Health. He graduated from the Emory University School of Medicine with an MD, Harvard Business School with an MBA, and Claremont McKenna College with a BA in Government. He serves as affiliated faculty for the Clinical Informatics Fellowship at Stanford. —  Show notes:ChatGPT for CliniciansChatGPT for Health (for patients)OpenAI for HealthcareGPT-Rosalind—  🏆 Thank you for your votes! We're excited to share that the Heart of Healthcare is a Webby Award Winner for 2026! —  📍 Connect with us: Heart of Healthcare website LinkedIn YouTube  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
• The Chaos Of Drug Pricing in the US | GoodRx CEO Wendy Barnes 20.04.2026 39min

  Nearly one billion prescriptions are abandoned at the pharmacy counter every year, often because patients are blindsided by the cost. This week, co-host Halle Tecco is joined by Wendy Barnes, President and CEO of GoodRx, to discuss the chaos of prescription drug pricing, the murky world of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), and how digital tools are changing patient affordability. They break down the layered system of manufacturers, payers, and pharmacies that creates inconsistent pricing, and explore the current push for greater transparency. We cover:The cascade of drug pricing: from initial manufacturer costs and rebates to payer and pharmacy contracts, which results in vast price variability for consumersWhat it would take to get to price transparency in drug pricingThe current pressures on PBMs, including efforts to ban "spread" and the practice of offshoring rebate contracting for tax advantagesWhy pharmacies haven’t gone online like other areas of consumer goodsThe future of medication access, including the growth of pharma’s direct-to-patient programs and the low current adoption of home delivery despite widespread retail pharmacy closures—  About our guest: Wendy Barnes is the President and CEO of GoodRx. She has over 30 years of leadership experience across the pharmacy and medical benefit industry. Most recently, Wendy served as CEO of RxBenefits, where she led the company in providing pharmacy benefit support to more than 2,000 self-insured clients, representing over 3 million lives. Prior to that, she served as President of Express Scripts Pharmacy, overseeing operations for 100 million beneficiaries. Her leadership spans roles at Rite Aid, Premier Inc., and the U.S. Air Force, where she served as a Medical Service Corps Officer. She holds a B.S. degree in Biochemistry from the United States Air Force Academy and an M.B.A. degree from the University of Alaska Anchorage. —  📍 Connect with us: Heart of Healthcare website LinkedIn Youtube  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
• Building a Health System for “Customers” | Baylor Scott & White Health CEO Pete McCanna 13.04.2026 41min

  Pete McCanna, CEO of Baylor Scott & White Health, believes that health systems are built around the wrong objective… and he has an ambitious goal to change that. This week, Halle sits down with McCanna to unpack how one of the largest and most successful health systems in the country is shifting from a supply-driven model to one built entirely around the customer. They discuss why legacy systems operate like “walled castles,” what it takes to redesign care around real conditions instead of departments, and how Baylor Scott & White is testing a model that prioritizes access, personalization, and long-term trust over short-term profit. We cover:Why most health systems are structured to fill capacity, not create value for patientsThe reason why he uses the term "customer" instead of "patient" (and how his colleagues initially responded)How loyalty and trust make it economically sound to offer services that lose money.The strategy for deploying AI to create product differentiation for patients rather than just improving internal efficiencyThe limits of the “payvider” model and why it’s harder than it looksThe three healthcare laws he thinks need to be rewritten— About our guest: As CEO of Baylor Scott & White Health, Peter (Pete) McCanna is focused on empowering customers to live well by reimagining traditional healthcare—offering more convenient, personalized, and informed experiences. He is leading Baylor Scott & White’s customer-centric transformation by bringing together the system’s 59,000 team members around a common goal to keep people healthy and feeling connected and supported. Before becoming CEO, Pete served as the health system’s president. In that role, he drove operational excellence, strengthened clinical alignment, scaled the system’s digital health platform, MyBSWHealth, and deepened academic partnerships to address the critical need for healthcare professionals. Pete has nearly 40 years of industry experience. As executive vice president and chief operating officer at Northwestern Medicine, he exceeded targets for operating revenue, quality, patient experience, and employee engagement, making it one of the top 10 academic health centers in the country. Known as a thoughtful and innovative leader, Pete formerly served as chief financial officer at New Mexico-based Presbyterian Healthcare Services and the University of Colorado Hospital. Passionate about transforming healthcare, Pete was named one of Modern Healthcare’s “100 Most Influential People in Healthcare.” Driven by a deep sense of purpose, Pete currently serves as the inaugural board chair of Longitude Health, an innovative healthcare collaborative, and as a board member of University of Michigan Health, Texas Hospital Association, and Catholic Extension. He holds a master’s degree in Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Michigan. Baylor Scott & White Health is the largest not-for-profit health system in the state of Texas. It includes 55 hospitals, more than 1,300 access points, a health plan, a research institute, and an accountable care organization, plus Levanto—a company offering digitally-enabled health solutions—and 3.5 million customers connected through MyBSWHealth. — Snow notes: Visit BSWHealth.com to learn more.Download the MyBSWHealth app.Explore Levanto.Health to learn about employer solutions built on Baylor Scott & White's digital platform and care model.— 📍 Connect with us: Heart of Healthcare website LinkedIn Youtube  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
• 📣 Digital Health Download: April 2026 06.04.2026 22min

  We’re back with our monthly rundown of the top headlines in health tech! Today, Halle flies solo to share the biggest stories that shaped Q1, from the rising pressures on PBMs to how consumers are using AI. Stories covered:What's happening to PBMs (it's not pretty)New data from Rock Health on consumer use of AISocial media companies find liable for addictive designHealthcare hiring is slowing as efficiency becomes the focusHave we finally bent the healthcare cost curve in the United States?— The Heart of Healthcare podcast was nominated for a Webby award! We'd so appreciate if you could create a quick account and vote for us here. — 📍 Connect with us: Heart of Healthcare website LinkedIn Instagram Youtube See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
• The Drugstore Cowboy | C.O. Bigelow Owner & Pharmacist Alec Ginsberg 30.03.2026 44min

  Last year, his independent pharmacy spent $13 million on brand-name drugs for patients processed by the three biggest Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) which earned a profit margin of 0.01%. In this episode, Halle speaks with Alec Ginsberg, owner and fourth-generation pharmacist at C.O. Bigelow, the oldest surviving apothecary–pharmacy in the United States. Alec is fighting against the forces squeezing independent pharmacies and charting a course for the future of the pharmacist. We cover:How the roll-up of PBMs, health plans, and retail pharmacies changed everythingWhat led him to remove his pharmacy’s Rx-filling robotThe dramatic decline of independent pharmacies along with the closures of big box pharmacy storesThe one health policy he would put in place today to save independent pharmaciesThe history of the pharmacist's role and what’s nextWhat he really thinks about compounding pharmacies and the Hims vs. Novo lawsuit— About our guest:  Alec Wade Ginsberg is the fourth-generation pharmacist, owner, and Chief Operating Officer of C.O. Bigelow Apothecary, America’s oldest pharmacy, founded in 1838 and still operating in New York City’s West Village. With a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy, Alec bridges the clinical world of pharmacy with the realities of modern consumer culture. At Bigelow, he oversees the brick-and-mortar beauty retail and pharmacy operations, navigating everything from prescription drug shortages to the pressures of today’s PBM-dominated marketplace. Beyond the counter, Alec is the founder and writer of Drugstore Cowboy, a weekly newsletter that dissects the intersection of drugs, business, and consumer culture — making the hidden mechanics of the U.S. healthcare system both understandable and entertaining for thousands of readers. His work has been featured across national media, and he’s become a trusted voice for translating complex pharmaceutical issues — from GLP-1s to compounding to drug pricing — into plain English. Alec’s mission is simple: to make Americans smarter about the pills in their cabinets and the system that puts them there. — Show notes:Drugstore Cowboy - Alec’s free and super interesting newsletterC.O. Bigelow - The Nation’s Oldest ApothecaryVirtual GLP-1 startups: Pill mills or the future of obesity care?— 📍 Connect with us: Heart of Healthcare website LinkedIn Instagram Youtube See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
• Where Healthcare Policy Is Headed | Chief Counselor at HHS, Chris Klomp 23.03.2026 43min

  Chris Klomp, Director of Medicare and Deputy Administrator of CMS, and Senior Advisor to HHS Secretary RFK Jr., has big ambitions to reshape how healthcare works in the United States.
• Hard Founder Truths in 2026 | Listener Q&A 16.03.2026 30min

  This week, Halle and Michael sit down for a special in-person listener Q&A to answer a range of founder questions you submitted. Topics include:What investors are prioritizing right now and how first-time founders can stand outHow to think about board seatsWhat to do if your growth has plateauedThings to keep in mind when negotiating a health system contractHow to think about choosing between small funds and mega-VCsWhat “pay to play” really meansHow to handle co-founder equity when someone leaves early— 📍 Connect with us: Heart of Healthcare website LinkedIn Instagram Youtube  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
• Can a Simple Blood Test Solve Cancer? | Guardant Health CEO Helmy Eltoukhy 09.03.2026 38min

  Breakthrough blood tests that can flag dozens of cancers before symptoms appear are gaining momentum, yet questions remain about accuracy, equity, and how these tools will fit into routine care. In this episode, Steve talks with Helmy Eltoukhy, co-founder and co-CEO of Guardant Health, a $14 billion publicly-traded precision oncology company. The conversation explores the science behind cell-free DNA, the rise of blood-based cancer screening, and the broader shift toward data-driven diagnostics. We cover:How liquid biopsy works and why cell-free DNA became such a powerful toolThe path from late-stage applications to large-scale early detectionWhat Medicare coverage of blood-based colorectal cancer screening signals for adoptionThe operational and regulatory hurdles that shape diagnostics businessesLessons from Helmy’s entrepreneurial path across sequencing, diagnostics, and company-building— About our guest:  Helmy Eltoukhy is the chairman and co-CEO of Guardant Health, a leading precision oncology company he co-founded in 2012. He is also an active investor and is involved in over 30 startup companies across the technology and healthcare sectors. In December 2024, Eltoukhy expanded his ventures into sports ownership by co-leading the acquisition of Sheffield United Football Club through COH Sports of which he is currently co-chairman. Last year, he was named by TIME100 Health as one of the most influential people in global health. He was also on Time Magazine’s inaugural list of the 50 Most Influential People in Health Care and has been recognized by Fortune (40 under 40), the World Economic Forum (Technology Pioneer), and on the list of the Top 50 Healthcare CEOs in 2021. Beyond his entrepreneurial endeavors, Eltoukhy is deeply committed to various philanthropic efforts and serves on the boards of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the SETI Institute (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), and the UCSF Cancer Leadership Council. Prior to founding Guardant Health, Eltoukhy co-founded Avantome in 2007 to commercialize semiconductor sequencing, which was later acquired by Illumina. Eltoukhy is a named inventor on over 100 patents and holds PhD, MS, and BS degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University. — Learn more about the Rock Health CEO Summit at the New York Stock Exchange on March 27th. — 📍 Connect with us: Heart of Healthcare website LinkedIn Instagram Youtube  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
• 📣 Digital Health Download: March 2026 02.03.2026 31min

  Pharma ads, biotech IPOs, $1M longevity programs, oh my! This month's Digital Health Download skews towards biotech, which is having a moment. Tune in to hear Halle and Michael cover the latest headlines. We cover:Why pharma ads are surging and the growing push for restrictions on D2C drug advertisingHims & Hers’ $1.15B acquisition of Eucalyptus, its global expansion strategy, and the FDA crackdown on compounded GLP‑1 drugsThe return of biotech IPOs, with Eikon Therapeutics and Generate Biomedicines signaling investor interest in platform‑based drug discoveryVaccine makers scaling back research amid policy uncertainty, declining uptake, and tighter fundingTrumpRx’s “most favored nation” drug pricing approach, and what one STAT analysis foundBryan Johnson’s $1M per year “Immortals” longevity program— Show notes:Should drug companies be advertising to consumers? (The New York Times) Hims & Hers Enters $1.15 Billion Agreement to Acquire Eucalyptus (PharmExec.com)A sign biotech is back? Four drugmakers go public, raising nearly $1 billion in all (STAT)Vaccine Makers Curtail Research and Cut Jobs (The New York Times) TrumpRx claims to offer the lowest prices. But many drugs have cheaper generics (STAT)Bryan Johnson's Immortals: $1M to try longevity regimen (Axios) — "Halle Tecco wanted to see tech used for better medical services and getting people engaged in their own health. Now, she’s written a book on how she went about it." - The WSJ Massively Better Healthcare is out now! — Rock Health's annual CEO Summit is returning to the New York Stock Exchange on March 27th! Learn more and nominate a CEO to join this invite-only event here. — 📍 Connect with us: Heart of Healthcare website LinkedIn Instagram Youtube See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
• Precision Medicine Is (Almost) Here | Tempus AI CEO Eric Lefkosky 23.02.2026 40min

  When Eric Lefkofsky’s wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, it exposed how little technology and data were shaping cancer care, pushing the serial entrepreneur to build a different model. Lefkofsky is the founder and CEO of Tempus, now a $10B publicy traded health tech company, and previously founded Groupon. At Tempus, he’s building a tech-first company applying multimodal data and AI to make diagnostics smarter and treatment decisions more tailored, starting in oncology and expanding across disease areas. We cover:What Tempus does in plain EnglishWhy Tempus built its own lab, and how it became one of the largest sequencers of cancer patients in the U.S.The hard part: extracting usable clinical data from EHRs and scaling to thousands of hospital connections and hundreds of petabytes of dataHow AI changes the patient-physician relationship, and why patients will increasingly arrive highly informedWhat Eric would change at CMS and HHS to responsibly pay for AI— About our guest:  Eric Lefkofsky is the founder and CEO at Tempus, a leader in artificial intelligence and precision medicine. He is the co-founder and General Partner of Lightbank, a private venture capital firm specializing in investments in technology companies. He is also the co-founder of Pathos AI, a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on re-engineering drug development; Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN), a global e-commerce marketplace; Mediaocean, a leading provider of integrated media procurement technology; Echo Global Logistics (NASDAQ: ECHO), a technology-enabled transportation and logistics outsourcing firm; and InnerWorkings (NASDAQ: INWK), a global provider of managed print and promotional solutions. He co-chairs the Lefkofsky Family Foundation with his wife Liz to advance high-impact initiatives that enhance lives in the communities served. Lefkofsky also serves on the board of directors of The Art Institute of Chicago and Northwestern Medicine. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. — 📍 Connect with us: Heart of Healthcare website LinkedIn Instagram Youtube  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
• A Roadmap for Innovators and A Giant Leap for AI | Dr. Bob Wachter & Halle Tecco 16.02.2026 34min

  In this episode (recorded live), Halle Tecco speaks with Dr. Robert Wachter, Chair of Medicine at UCSF, about their concurrently released books on healthcare innovation and AI. They share thoughts on the dual challenge of innovation in healthcare and the role of AI, covering:Why past waves of tech failed to change healthcare and why AI may finally break throughHow AI is making a difference today in healthcareWhere AI-assisted diagnosis and prescribing could go next, and the risks of over-relying on humans “in the loop” How EHR vendors (like Epic) hold the "poll position" for AI implementation due to workflow integrationWhy innovators must become healthcare "anthropologists"; and clinicians must understand technology and AI Plus, a surprise guest from Prenuvo joins us to chime in.  Order Halle’s new book, Massively Better Healthcare here Order Bob’s new book, A Giant Leap here — About our guest:  Robert M. Wachter, MD is Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Author of 300 articles and 6 books, he coined the term “hospitalist” in 1996 and is often considered the “father” of the hospitalist field, the fastest-growing medical specialty in U.S. history. He is a past president of the Society of Hospital Medicine, past chair of the American Board of Internal Medicine, a Master of the American College of Physicians, and an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. Modern Healthcare magazine has ranked him among the 50 most influential physician-executives in the U.S. more than a dozen times; he was #1 on the list in 2015. His 2015 book, The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype and Harm at the Dawn of Medicine’s Computer Age, was a New York Times bestseller. His new book is A Giant Leap: How AI is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
• The New Care Dyad | Dr. Karen DeSalvo 09.02.2026 38min

  Physicians now face a world where search bars, chat apps, and large AI models are becoming many people’s first stop for health questions, long before they enter a clinic. Former Google Chief Health Officer and national health IT leader Dr. Karen DeSalvo joins us to unpack what this shift means for clinicians, regulators, and patients, and why 15% of daily Google searches are questions no one has ever asked before. We cover: • Why consumer health search is becoming a powerful entry point into care • How Google built guardrails for safety, quality, and real-time monitoring of emerging risks • What the rise of GenAI “doctor in your pocket” tools could mean • The regulatory tensions ahead as states experiment with AI-driven medical decision support • How global demand, workforce strain, and new data sources (IoT, at-home diagnostics, wearables) are accelerating AI-supported primary care — About our guest:  Dr. Karen DeSalvo is a health leader who has committed her career to improving health for everyone, everywhere.  She was most recently Google’s Chief Health Officer, where spearheaded a global team of health professionals dedicated to harnessing Google's technology and platforms to help everyone, everywhere live a longer, healthier life. Before Google, Dr. DeSalvo held significant roles in the U.S. government, including National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and acting Assistant Secretary for Health. She was also the Health Commissioner in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, where she led public health recovery efforts. Dr. DeSalvo currently sits on the Boards of Directors for Welltower and CityBlock Health and is a member of the Council of the National Academy of Medicine. — Pre-order Halle's new book, Massively Better Healthcare. — 📍 Connect with us: Heart of Healthcare website LinkedIn Instagram Youtube  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
• 📣 Digital Health Download: February 2026 02.02.2026 29min

  We’re back with our monthly rundown of the top headlines in health tech! Today, Halle and Steve sort through the biggest stories shaping the year ahead, from AI prescribing to lawsuits galore. We cover:AI prescribing (in Utah!)The FDA updated guidance on clinical decision support for AI in medicineThe lawsuit against Prenuvo after a missed stroke warning, and the broader debate over accountability in AI-assisted diagnosticsTexas’ antitrust case against Epic - are they being anti-competitive?New evidence shows GLP-1 drugs lower employer healthcare costs by 9%Why healthcare hiring is slowing downHalle’s book is now available! (Order now on Amazon) Show notes:Utah begins pilot of prescribing AI medication (Utah Department of Commerce)FDA issues guidance on wellness products, clinical decision support software (AHA)Man got $2,500 whole-body MRI that found no problems—then had massive stroke (Ars Technica)Texas sues Epic, accusing it of running a monopoly (Wisconsin Public Radio)Why cover GLP-1s? They’ll lower employer healthcare costs, study says (Healthcare Dive)Hospitals' make-or-break year (Axios)— 🙏 Thank you to our show sponsor, Smarter Technologies, the first automation and insights platform for healthcare efficiency. Learn more at www.smartertech.com — 📍 Connect with us: Heart of Healthcare website LinkedIn Instagram Youtube See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
• Building the Largest Health Data Ecosystem in the US | Datavant CEO Kyle Armbrester 26.01.2026 41min

  It has been said that we don’t have “big data” in healthcare, but instead a large amount of “small data.” In this episode, Halle speaks with Kyle Armbrester, CEO of Datavant and former CEO of Signify Health (acquired for $8B), about why healthcare data still moves the way it did decades ago and what it will take to modernize it at scale. Kyle reflects on building and leading large health tech companies and explains how fixing data flow could reduce administrative waste, improve security, and make care easier for patients and providers alike.
• Is Healthcare the Ultimate Test for AI? | Ankit Jain 19.01.2026 32min

  This week, Steve sits down with Ankit Jain, co-founder and CEO of Infinitus Systems, to talk about why voice-based AI has become one of the most rapidly adopted tools in healthcare operations, what’s actually working in the field, and where the hype still outpaces reality. Ankit shares six years of lessons from building AI agents that handle 35-minute medical calls end to end, plus his predictions on what 2026 and 2027 will really look like as enterprises attempt to build their own agents.